Gooseberry-picker.



KARL SCHAAL, OF SEWARD, NEBRASKA,

GOOSEBERRY-PICKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 19, 1907.

Application filed September 17, 1906. Serial No. 334,853.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, KARL SCHAAL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seward, in the county of Seward and State of Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gooseberry-Pickers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to berry-picking devices designed especially for use in picking gooseberries, and has for its objects to provide a comparatively simple inexpensive device of this character by means of which the berries may be rapidly and conveniently gathered and one in the operation of which liability of mashing or otherwise injuring the berries is wholly obviated.

With these and other objects in view the invention comprises the novel features of construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a berry-picker embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a section taken centrally and longitudinally therethrough. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the device. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the skeleton frame to which the covering is applied in forming the receptacle or cup,

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the device comprises a cup or receptacle 1, provided with a handle 2 and having its front wall 3, which is curved outwardly from top to bottom, as shown, provided with a central upwardly-opening slot 4 of a length equaling substantially half the depth of said wall.

The body portion of the berry-picker comprises a skeleton frame 5, composed of wire, and a fabric covering 6, sewed or otherwise applied to the frame to form the cup, the handle 2 being of course formed integral and in one piece with the frame 5, in the producl tion of which a single piece or length of wire is first twisted to produce the handle, the strands of wire being after the handle is completed bent to form the frame for the front wall of the receptacle, the strands being crossed and bent back and forth, as at 7, not only to form braces for the frame, but to produce clamps 8, with which the edges of the material are engaged in the formation of the slot 4. The side edges of the slot are formed by opposed portions 9 of the wire, thus presenting smooth rounded surfaces for contact with the branches of a bush in the operation of stripping the berries therefrom.

In practice the operator grasps the handle 2 and enters a branch of the berry-bush into the slot 4, thereafter drawing the device toward him, whereby the berries will be stripped from the branch and fall into the receptacle 1, it being apparent that in this operation the berries will be rapidly gathered, and this without incurring liability of mashing, bruising, or otherwise damaging them, and, furthermore, that owing to the side edges of the slot being rounded in cross-section, as before explained, the device may be moved freelyv longitudinally of the branch.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is rA device of the class described comprising a handle and a receptacle carried thereby, said receptacle consisting of a skeleton frame formed integral with the handle and a fabric covering, said receptacle having its front wall provided with an upwardly-opening branchreceiving slot.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

KARL SCHAAL. Witnesses:

JOHN L. JoRGENsoN, C. JACOBS. 

